Strawberry Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (2), 29th August 2021

I took this bottle to an impromptu barbecue at David and Liz's on Sunday evening, knowing this to be one of Liz's favourites. It was the last of three bottles drunk, which is perhaps too much between four (particularly as Claire had only a sip of this one), but when it is a bank holiday the next day, who's counting? This strawberry vintage is excellent and Liz and David both thought it akin to a proper rosé. It was a lovely way end a day that had been full of chores (one of which was making a damson cake - the result of which was a triumph despite my misgivings).

Damson Cake

Strawberry Wine 2020 - First Bottle (4), 2nd July 2021

Claire and I disagree about the merits of strawberry wine. I love its ruby-red colour, its lightness, its taste of strawberries and appreciate that there is a hint of real wine lurking beneath that. Claire thinks it is okay. Because Claire does not particularly enjoy it, we have several bottle of strawberry wine yet to be drunk and for the first time since probably 1999 I won't make the flavour this year.

We drank the bottle to another one of my excellent quiches (he said, modestly) - this time 'The Sick and the Weak' quiche, made from elderly vegetables we have been hoarding.

My Excellent Quiche

If you want to see how I made this wine, click here.

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (3), 14th May 2021

I think that this vintage may have improved. Claire described it as at the good end of a midweek bottle, which is definitely a step up. Though the strawberry flavour is subtle, it is present and otherwise this felt like a soft white, but with a glorious red colour.

Friday has been a busy day at work but the evening was pleasantly relaxed. After a tortilla, I made rhubarb wine and then we curled up on the sofa to watch ER. Not a Rock & Roll lifestyle!

Taken on 14 May

With some apologies for the above image (it is the only one I took on Friday), but I have got all concerned about my health again. I looked in the mirror sideways on, and all I could see was ribs. And I have been trying to gain weight for the last few months: instead I have lost a couple of pounds. This photo is, in some way, to encourage me to go the doctors again - even if I do come across as a neurotic hypochondriac! 

Strawberry Wine 2015 - Final Bottle (3), 23rd February 2021

Strawberry wine, it turns out, is not one to lie down in the cellar for years before sampling. This wine was so near to undrinkable that I poured it down the sink. It is rare, indeed, that I resort to that. The taste was cloying and unpleasant and I wonder if it was corked. I opened a bottle of Ginger instead and that was far better.

After I had poured the wine away I inspected the bottle. It was badly stained from the wine and may ultimately need to be recycled.

Little of note happened on Tuesday, but that is so often the case in these days of Lockdown. Still, the news on that front is looking more promising. We may be free to return to near-normal by July!

The empty wine bottle

Strawberry Wine 2019 - Third Bottle (4), 22nd December 2020

Well, this wasn't a great idea. After an intense three weeks at work, the hardest that I have had for an age, I got the £8.4m contract in Calderdale exchanged and promptly drank the greater half of a bottle of champagne. I then opened this bottle of Strawberry - which was superb: a proper strawberry taste - and we finished that too. As I say, not a great idea. One can overdo the concept of celebration. It led to a poor night's sleep, feeling muddled the next morning and a short-lived desire to stay away from the booze.

A dull photo taken on 22 December.
I was trying to get the Leeds skyline.

 

Strawberry Wine 2019 - Second Bottle (3), 23rd September 2020

Wednesday was a Good Day. Work was sufficiently quiet (a calm before the storm) that I got to spend an hour with Darren, chatting in his kitchen (only partly about work) and then I went to the office for the first time since March to collect post, stationery and cheques. It was oddly unexceptional to visit my desk again. In the evening I opened this bottle of strawberry wine to drink with the Egg & Pepper Thing, and it was as good a bottle as it always is: cold, dry and tasting of strawberries. Finishing it on a Wednesday may have been an error.

Taken on 23 September
Dark mornings and autumn are upon us.

The Egg and Pepper Thing

This is one of our fairly regular meals, and is dead easy (though is not quick). Get a large frying pan. Heat some olive oil (a tablespoon or so), and briefly fry some cumin seeds and chillies (seeds or flakes). Add a whole sliced onion (thinly sliced in halves) and cook for a while until it has gone soft and is browning. I often start with the lid on the frying pan to help it cook, and then take that off to help it brown. Add a crushed clove of garlic whilst cooking the onion. As the onion is close to being done, add two thinly sliced peppers of whatever colour you fancy. Cook those for a while until soft-ish. Then add a handful or two of chopped tomatoes (or three handfuls - I don't think you can have too many). When the tomatoes have cooked a bit, so that it is all quite liquid, add a dash of stock or half a stock cube, and stir around. When it all looks cooked, create four spaces within the frying pan (make a 'cross' with the vegetables, leaving four holes) and crack an egg into each one. When the egg whites are solid, the meal is made. This really is more than the sum of its parts.

Strawberry Wine 2019 - First Bottle (6), 4th July 2020

 My fears about this wine proved needless. Even Claire, who is not ordinarily a fan of strawberry wine, said that she liked it. The taste of strawberry is definitely there, but maybe not as pronounced as previous years. It may be a little drier too: more like a white wine than before.

It being 4th July, we ate fried chicken, potato salad and Boston Baked Beans, and then watched Little Shop of Horrors with Sally, Sooz and Jayne. It is a great musical - good tunes, clever lyrics, an amazing cast and just an overall joy.

Taken on 4th July

If you want to see how this wine was made, click here.

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Fourth Bottle (2), 2nd August 2020

This really is not a good vintage of strawberry wine. There is something just a little bitter about it and it commits the cardinal sin of not being very interesting. We managed to drink the whole bottle on Sunday night, though - and that wasn't the only alcohol for the evening. It was the night before going back to work after a week's holiday - and that is always a difficult evening (made easier by a bottle of unpleasant strawberry wine). I am writing this two days later and so far have survived!

I made blackcurrant wine on Sunday too.
I won't blog about this one, though - I did
exactly the same as 'Blackcurrant & Raspberry'
which I have only recently blogged about

Strawberry Wine 2017 - Final Bottle (5), 9th May 2020

I don't know how Claire cannot much like strawberry wine. It is one of my favourites and this was a good vintage of it: dry, light and distinctive.

Saturday was a lazy day, partly spent in the garden doing some ineffectual weeding (the ground is so hard - we need some rain) and partly spent reading Frankenstein. Now that the Creature is telling his tale, the book has become more interesting. I prefer Jane Austen though!

Taken on 8th May

Strawberry Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

Kemps Farm - the Pick Your Own

Six weeks ago it was not clear whether I would be able to make strawberry wine this year. With all but essential shops closed and everyone self-isolating to conquer Covid 19, it seemed unlikely that a Pick Your Own farm in Horsforth would be open. However, there has been a relaxing of rules since June, and from 4th July pubs, restaurants and hairdressers were allowed to trade again. Compared to these, squatting in a field, picking strawberries, strikes me as a low risk activity. Safety measures have been put in place, however. Entrance was by ticket only (at a cost of £2, which I do think is a cheek - but I am supporting a local business) and I had to book my slot so that the Farm could stagger its customers.

I chose 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, 5th July, and was the first to arrive (at about ten to). The farmer looked at my baskets, said "You look like a serious picker" and directed me to what he said was the best field. I had it to myself for about the first half hour and this year the fruit was far better than last. It was more plentiful and riper, and I did not feel like I had to fight for each strawberry. 

Picking strawberries for nearly an hour, watching clouds scudding across the blue sky, was a pleasant way to spend Sunday morning - though crouching for that length of time is never comfortable. Of course I picked far more than the 4 lbs I needed for this recipe and 1 lb for a wine later in the year.

Back at home I washed the strawberries twice, hulling them in the process. I put 4 lbs in my bucket, mashed them and poured over 4 pints of boiling water. On Monday I sieved the fruit out, putting this into a separate bowl (the liquid stored temporarily in a demijohn) and covered the fruit in 2 pints of cold water. About an hour later I drained the fruit again - keeping this liquid for the wine - and I put the fruit pulp on the compost.

All liquid went into the bucket with 3 lbs sugar and a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient, pectolase and tannin. On Friday 10th July it all went into the demijohn and is a pleasing light red.

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Third Bottle (6), 14th March 2020

By special request, I took this bottle to David and Liz's, where we spent the evening eating Mexican food. The chilli and guacamole were fabulous, but I found the wine rather less so. It is too dry and doesn't taste much of strawberries. Liz, however, said that she really liked it.

Most of the evening was spent discussing the impending storm of Covid 19/the Corona virus. Having been entirely blasé about it, I am now worried about how much impact it will have on my life - physical, emotional, professional, financial - over the next several months. Wish us luck.

Our kitchen - taken on 14th March.

I had just got a brand new phone, and this 

was the first photo that I took with it.

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Second Bottle (1), 28th November 2019

On the basis that strawberry wine is Richard's favourite, I opened this bottle for Thanksgiving. As with the previous bottle, this one had a distinct fizz. Unlike the previous bottle, I removed its cork. It was with some trepidation that I asked Richard whether it was acceptable. Happily it was more than: it was actively nice. Rather drier than previous bottles of strawberry wine and perhaps a little less strawberry flavoured. The fizz is entirely beneficial, apart from giving the wine a tendency to explode.

Our Thanksgiving Table - before the food!

Strawberry Wine 2019 - The Making Of

On Tuesday evening, 2nd July, after work, I went to pick strawberries at the Horsforth Pick Your Own fields. At the weighing counter I was directed to a far away field and told that this was where the 'Superb' strawberries could be found. Maybe the adjective used was 'Magnificent'. The man behind the counter must have a different dictionary to me. I would have used the words 'Barely Adequate' myself. Mostly the fruit was unripe or gone over. However, if I was to end up with 4 lbs of strawberries, I could not afford to be fussy. My one requirement was that they were mostly red, but even then it seemed like every strawberry was an effort. I was not helped by feeling dizzy every time I stood up, occasionally seeing brown swirling patches before my vision cleared. It being past six, I was the only person in the field and fainting would have been a poor choice. Despite all this, I ended up with a basketful which, when weighed, came to over 6 lbs - so I have enough for apple and strawberry wine later in the year. I am dubious about the quality, though.

The Pick Your Own Field with 'Superb' Strawberries

Mashing 4 lbs of (hulled) strawberries took longer than it should and I don't think the fruit was ripe enough. If this wine turns out badly, this will be why.

My basket of strawberries

To the 4 lbs of mashed strawberries, I added 4 pints of boiling water. The following evening, 3rd July, I strained the liquid into a demijohn and stored the fruit in a sterilised bowl. I poured 2 pints of cold water over the fruit and let it sit for about an hour. Next I poured the strained liquid back into my (washed and re-sterilised) bucket and then strained the fruit again from the new liquid, pouring the liquid into the bucket and discarding the fruit. At this point I put 3 lbs of sugar into the bucket and a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient, pectolase and tannin. Wednesday was a busy evening!

Giving the strawberries a wash

I left the wine until Saturday, giving it a daily stir. Saturday evening was meant to be spent playing in a concert, but the piece I was meant to play in - Fauré's Requiem - got cancelled at the last minute, so I put my wine into its demijohn instead. The wine is far less red than usual and this year it is brick-red rather than post-box red. I am not hopeful.

Strawberries in my bucket

I racked this on 15th August and by that point was became more hopeful as the small taste I got was fine. I added over half a pint of water with 2 oz sugar dissolved.

A few tiny strawberries from our garden that I put in

On bottling, which happened on 12th March, this wine has turned into something rather good. Maybe a less distinctive strawberry hit than usual - but definitely akin to wine.

Brick-Red Strawberry Wine

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here.

Strawberry Wine 2017 - Fifth Bottle (1), 22nd December 2019

Sunday was a two party day. In the afternoon we went to Ilkley for 'Mendelssohn and Mince Pies', where Claire played in an octet and I played board games. Then in the evening we went to Phil and Angie's, where I took this bottle of strawberry wine. I sang carols at both. This year we were unable to go carolling around the neighbourhood due to new red-tape regulations about collecting money (we hadn't given the requisite 28-day notice) so stayed in and drank strawberry wine instead. It was a bottle universally enjoyed - as it should be!

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (5), 3rd-7th November 2019

It has taken us until early November to drink the first bottle from this batch of strawberry wine. This is because I stored all the bottles in the crypt and I rarely venture down there. When I opened it up to store some prune & parsnip I discovered that this bottle had popped its cork. I haven't had an explosion for years! There is no telling how long it has been open for, but we decided to drink it anyway.

Claire had a sherry-glass full and decided that this was plenty. I pretended that the wine was acceptable (it wasn't) and had two glasses. By Thursday night and another half glass, I decided that the only acceptable place for this was down the sink.

Strawberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (6), 19th July 2019

This was a Friday night bottle of wine. The day had been unremarkable and so was the bottle. Generally I think strawberry an excellent bottle to be saved for special occasions. This, though, was in the realms of 'alright' and more of a midweek bottle than anything. Claire disagreed and said that it had nothing of the burnt plastic about it.

We spent the evening watching Mad Men. It really was a completely unexciting day.

Strawberry Wine - Third Bottle (2), 8th May 2019

Wednesday was our only wet day for the holiday in Kelso. Before we went I had been checking the weather forecast daily and it looked like the weather was going to be atrocious. The forecast lied. Even though Wednesday was wet, we still got a five mile walk in, beginning and ending in Dryburgh Abbey - a 12th Century ruin where Walter Scott is buried. Well worth visiting.

To thank everyone for putting up with my medieval buildings obsession, I opened a bottle of strawberry wine, which went down nicely. Ann voluntarily had a second glass!

Dryburgh Abbey

Strawberry Wine 2016 - Final Bottle (3), 31st December 2018

New Year's Eve is traditionally a time to drink in excess, and I am happy to report that we kept that tradition.

We have spent the New Year in Cambridge with Rachel & Duncan, which is always a pleasure. A cup of tea was presented on our arrival but soon this was followed by gin & tonics, a gin fizz cocktail and too many bottles of wine (of which this was one and delicious). At nine o'clock I was convinced that, like most years these days, I would fail to see midnight and 2019 arrive. Claire went to bed at 10:30, but by then I had got a second wind and stayed up to hear the chimes of Big Ben and watch fireworks explode over the Thames.

Strawberry Wine - Second Bottle (3), 17th November 2018

Before the Wine Party began, I predicted that Strawberry Wine would be the winner. In fact, it came third of the sixteen, beaten by Blackberry and Dandelion. Personally I would have also put Apple higher after tasting them, but this is still a great bottle. Claire, though, continues to think that it tastes of burnt plastic.

We had our youngest ever guest this year - Elizabeth, aged five. I'm pretty certain she stuck to the fruit juice.

S is for Scrumptious.

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (4), 26th August 2018

Abbey Brew, the shop that sells me all my wine making stuff, had a tasting afternoon at which we were encouraged to bring our own creations. On the basis that I wanted to impress, I took a bottle of strawberry. And impress it did - lots of people said quite how good it was, though curiously did not have a strong taste of strawberries.

I spend much of the afternoon getting horrendously drunk, tasting all sorts of wine (mostly kit red) and a few spirits, with some beer and cider for good measure. I must not get that drunk again. But I also met some good people, including Glenda and Foz (Ian) who I have invited to November's wine party. I wonder if they will come.

If you want to see how I made this wine, click here.